


Afraid

by cosidrix



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amputation, Angst, Blood Loss, M/M, Serious Injuries, This isn't a happy fic, Violence, the violence actually isnt written abt but i put the warning there just to be safe bc its implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 11:31:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8204669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosidrix/pseuds/cosidrix
Summary: "When Lance was a boy, he was never actually afraid of death. He thought now that he might be, just a little."In which Keith finds Lance in the middle of a bloody battle, close to death and missing a limb.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Important: There is NO character death in this. It is left ambiguous, but NO ONE actually ends up dead after the events that take place.

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of water. 

“Lance!” Keith slipped down the muddy bank, the rain having soaked into the soil and made it impossible for his boots to gain purchase as he raced towards Lance’s limp body. He sunk to the ground beside him and gripped his shoulders, shaking his motionless form. He watched Lance’s face, his head leaning an awkward angle against a small boulder. “Lance! Shit-- oh, fuck, god, open your eyes! Lance!”

Thunder crashed and clanged overhead, lightning breathing it’s shimmer into the sky. The downpour was bursting forth from the pitch black overhead. Not a star could be seen through the clouds. No stars, no help, no other paladins, as they were all somewhere else on the beachfront fighting against the onslaught of Galra. They’d been mercilessly ambushed, Voltron had been destroyed, the lions wrecked without a chance of repair. Fifteen feet away, one of Green’s dismembered legs leaned against a tree, dirt and rainwater wrapping it like a blanket.  _ I’m not what I once was.  _ It seemed to say.  _ None of you will be. _

Keith looked down to examine Lance’s body. He had a deep gash across his forehead, but Keith was certain sutures would work on it, though it would leave a nasty scar. A wound on his stomach looked painful, but nothing a healing pod couldn’t fix. Looking lower, he saw--

_ Oh.  _

_ Oh, Lance.  _

His right leg was unscathed, spare scratches to the silvery armor. Contrarily, his left leg was nowhere to be seen. 

Keith steeled himself, staring at the pool of blood Lance’s upper thigh resided in. He swallowed back bile and looked to Lance’s face. “Lance!” He screamed, shaking his shoulders far more roughly now. “Wake up!” 

Like a miracle, Lance’s eyes opened just slightly. They were bloodshot-- vessels must have broken when he was attacked, as no eyes should be more red than white. 

“K--” he tried to speak but failed, staring at Keith lazily, gliding along on the edge between awareness and unconsciousness. 

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of water. He was afraid of drowning, of getting hurt.

Keith felt his eyes welling with tears.  _ Not now.  _ He looked around them, desperately searching for something to stop the bleeding. There had to be something that he could use to aid Lance, even if it wasn’t very effective. Keith was struck with an innate fear he’d never been exposed to before. He might have to watch his friend die right in front of him.

The plants on this alien planet were sprawling and leafy. Whispering a promise to return soon, he scrambled to his feet, searching for something dense and large enough to cover the wound. He reached for a leaf up high, and found himself nearly unable to grip it due to how bad his hands were trembling. 

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of water. Water meant storms, and storms meant lightning, and the shocks of white light tended to scare him as a toddler.

Thunder roared into the sky. “Pull yourself together.” Keith hissed, ripping it viciously from the stem. The sounds of the battle not even a half mile down the beach had him shuddering, the sounds of innocent indigenous aliens having come to the paladin’s aid attacking against the Galra soldiers. As he ran back to Lance, he spared a glance in their direction. They relentlessly fought alongside the other paladins, and Keith for a moment was drowned in how grateful he felt, but was quickly brought back to himself at the sight of Lance slipping from unconsciousness and beginning to wince in pain. 

“Lance!” Keith was equal parts happy that Lance was waking up, and floored with fear because now Lance would be aware of his condition. He comforted him urgently,“Hey, you’re okay--”

Lance’s eyes traveled down to his missing leg and his eyes widened, “K--” He sputtered, trying to get Keith’s name out. He shut his eyes, making broken, anguished noises like an injured animal. It took no time for tears to begin to fall down his face, mixing with the rainfall that had yet to lighten up. Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he stared down at his marred thigh, moving his hand to try to touch it, but finding it unable to move very easily, as due to it’s peculiar angle, it was likely broken.

“Lance, stop!” Keith urged him, “Stop and look at me, don’t look at your leg! I’m gonna fix it, I promise.” Once he’d gotten Lance’s eyes to train on him, he pressed the leaf against what was left of Lance’s thigh. The pressure caused Lance’s back to arch, his mouth gaping as he let out stuttered shrieks at the pain. 

Keith had to look away. 

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of water. As he got older, he told his mom that he was beginning to enjoy it, that he might want to live somewhere it rained a lot, because the sound was nice. 

Lightning whipped overhead, a wrathful god. 

Keith looked back to Lance’s trembling, sobbing form, so mutilated that he couldn’t even manage to get words out, but instead spoke only in fearful, pained sounds. “K--”

“I know. I know it hurts, but you gotta be strong. You gotta be strong for Voltron, Lance! We need you!” He raised his voice as Lance’s eyes began to flutter. With one bloody hand, he reached up and touched Lance’s face, shaking his head just slightly to regain his attention. “Lance, you need to stay awake. I know it’s scary, I’m scared too. But you gotta stay with me! We’re gonna get through this together!” He insisted.

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of water. 

Lance’s head lolled against the boulder. 

“Lance!” Keith shook him desperately. 

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of water.

Keith looked up at the sky, blinking against the rain. The fleet had pulled back, and was slipping into the sky. “They’re retreating,” he whispered to himself. 

That meant that the castle would be here soon. That meant Allura and Coran, that meant healing pods, that meant safety. 

When Lance was a boy, he was afraid of a lot of things. 

They were going to get here fast enough. They had to. They  _ had _ to.

When Lance was a boy, he was never actually afraid of death. He thought now that he might be, just a little. 


End file.
